Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Stock Price Down 6.8% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares fell 6.8% to about $54.51 on Tuesday with volume ~1.47M (10% above average); the 50‑day moving average is $58.73 and the 200‑day is $51.59, with a market cap around $8.03B.
• Analysts rate Vaxcyte a consensus "Moderate Buy" (6 Buys, 1 Hold, 1 Sell) with an average price target of $86, while some firms have raised targets to $110–$116 despite at least one sell rating.
• Vaxcyte recently missed quarterly EPS (reported -$1.80 vs. -$1.46 expected) and faces a negative FY EPS outlook (sell‑side estimate ~-7), while insiders sold ~17,037 shares last quarter amid very high institutional ownership (~96.8%).

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) fell 6.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $54.59 and last traded at $54.5050. 1,468,706 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 10% from the average session volume of 1,330,427 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PCVX. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vaxcyte currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

The business's 50 day moving average is $58.73 and its 200 day moving average is $51.59. The company has a market capitalization of $8.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.89 and a beta of 1.30.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported ($1.80) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.46) by ($0.34). During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.12) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 28,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,500. This trade represents a 9.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.83, for a total transaction of $127,867.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 160,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,135,081.52. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 17,037 shares of company stock valued at $994,899 over the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,565,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,373,000 after acquiring an additional 366,266 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 3,732,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,452,000 after acquiring an additional 663,817 shares during the period. Pivotal bioVenture Partners Investment Advisor LLC lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pivotal bioVenture Partners Investment Advisor LLC now owns 1,372,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,435,000 after acquiring an additional 67,300 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 127.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 24,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $876,000 after acquiring an additional 13,617 shares during the period. Finally, HighVista Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 159.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 86,802 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 53,345 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

Vaxcyte, Inc NASDAQ: PCVX is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing a new generation of preventive vaccines aimed at combating serious bacterial diseases. Headquartered in San Carlos, California, Vaxcyte leverages proprietary conjugation technologies to design and manufacture multivalent vaccines targeting pathogens for which there remain significant unmet medical needs. The company's platform is intended to streamline the production of conjugate vaccines by improving antigen presentation and broadening strain coverage compared with conventional approaches.

Vaxcyte's lead candidate, VAX-24, is a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine designed to protect against 24 serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

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